Motor-driven drapery closures, such as motor-driven traverse rods, have been in use for many years. They are, however, expensive both in terms of initial cost, and in terms of installation. They also are relatively large. As a result, electric traverse rods, as they are sometimes called, are used mainly in commercial installations such as in showrooms or in very expensive homes, and they are installed only by professionals. Hitherto, they have not been sold successfully in the consumer, do-it-yourself, market. One reason for the high cost of such electric traverse rods is that large drive motors have had to be used to handle the forces involved. In addition, the controls have required numerous parts including position sensing limit switches, and the like. Such limit switches have to be installed in the correct position for each installation, and the complexity of placing them with sufficient accuracy has made it virtually impossible to sell such equipment to the ordinary consumer. In one prior art electric traverse rod, a limit switch is employed which senses tension in the draw cord of the curtain and stops the motor. Such an arrangement avoids the problem of the accurate placement of position sensing limit switches, but it has the drawback of leaving the draw cords under tension, and of leaving the top of the curtain in a bunched condition when fully opened.
Accordingly, it is a basic object of this invention to provide an extremely simple, small, inexpensive, safe and easily installed, drive motor and control combination for drapery closures such as electric traverse rods, and the like. Still another object is to provide such a combination without the use of limit switches, and which will stop and back up slightly either at a point midway of their travel if an obstacle is encountered or at the desired end of their travel.
Additional objects include the provision of means for automatically actuating the motor in response to a gradually changing outside condition sensed such as the level of outside ambient light.